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The international website for the hobby worldwide. A website all about Budgerigars.Sun, 23 Oct 2016 11:43:23 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.23Didier Mervilde – Breeding Rareshttp://www.budgerigarworld.com/didier-mervilde-breeding-rares/
http://www.budgerigarworld.com/didier-mervilde-breeding-rares/#commentsWed, 19 Oct 2011 10:00:49 +0000http://www.budgerigarworld.com/?p=5766My name is Didier Mervilde, I was born in 1952 and live with my family in Aalter Belgium.

I first became interested in budgerigars in 1965 and at that time I kept about 5 pairs in a mixed aviary.

It was in 1986 that, after a visit to the aviary of Gerald Binks, I decided to breed budgies of show quality to compete in shows.

Since I was always fascinated by the colours, I decided to build an aviary for only “Rares”. This was not the easy way to start – but it was a challenge and I still have the rares today.

History

As a boy, I was always fascinated by birds and other animals, but I think it was in my genes because my grandfather was a well known racing pigeon breeder and my father kept canaries.

So, I was destined to do the same.

First, I started with racing pigeons, later on canaries and then I concentrated on budgies.

Many years ago I became a member of a local club and soon after that I became a member of the boards of several clubs. First the parrot clubs, then later on I started, with some other fanciers, the B.G.C (Belgian Budgerigar Club). I also became the first Vice-President and after that I became President. I was at that time one of the delegates at the W.B.O. for Belgium.

It was Gerald Binks who taught me the way to breed and keep budgies. After a while I became a correspondent for Budgerigar World for my country and I am still a member today.

Meanwhile, I became involved in the Belgian Lovebird Society as editor and judge and I still have the same interests in the “rares”.

I reorganised the BBS and was editor and member of the board. At that time I was also one of the two Belgian delegates at the WBO meetings and an WBO judge. BBS was one of the three budgie clubs
in Belgium. I left the club in 2008/2009 and in 2011 the club stopped its activities.

Breeding

Keeping rares is one thing, but breeding them is quite a challenge.

So I bought a lot of books and videos and attended as many meetings as possible to learn about other aspects of the birds – such as genetics, colors, feeding, standards etc.

I contacted Mr. Inte Onsman, from MUTAVI, and through him I learned about the genetic rules. Indeed, I was so involved with this subject that I became the liaison for MUTAVI in Belgium.

To breed rares you need to have a basic understanding of genetics, otherwise you will miss a lot. You can breed good budgies without knowledge but specialising in rares demands the knowledge of genetics.

Breeding rares without some good Normals is not possible – you need them in order to obtain a better standard in the rares. That is why I always try to put a good Normal to a mutation – this makes the birds stronger.

Now I have also birds from German breeders Mr. Dieter Keller (100% Mannes line) and Mr. Gerd Bleicher (Anthracite line).

Every year I visit one of those breeders to obtain one or two outcrosses and, due to the mixing of bloodlines I used in my aviary from different breeders, I have developed new genes from Mannes and Moffat through the BA23 bloodline, Ormerod and Mannes through the RE 08 and Keller bloodline.

With that base I try to build up my own strong bloodlines.

For a few years I do not attend any of the shows with my birds in my country. The reason for that is a lack of time on my part and also a lack of co-operation within the Belgium clubs.

In Belgium we have 2 clubs. There is a lot of discussions and politics going on between those clubs and members – so I decided to leave that and concentrate only on breeding.

With the modern way of the Internet and websites I have no problems in keeping contact with breeders all over the world and selling my birds to countries like Germany, The Netherlands, France, U.K., Portugal and the U.S.A. (where I introduced the Slate).

I like to enjoy myself in this hobby and that is why I do this.

Slates

My first Slate came from a breeder in The Netherlands, who had stopped breeding Slates because of the lack of interest from the breeders in this mutation.

I concentrated on the normal Slates without darkfactor, one dark factor and two dark factors, I am getting rid of the Opalines because I do not like them.

Slate is a sex-linked variety, so if you want to start with Slates it is better to start with a visual cock or hen, just to be sure you have the mutation. Later on in your breeding program you can use split birds.

To improve the mutation I have never paired Slate to Slate and prefer to put a blue split cock to a slate hen.
It is also possible to breed Green series Slates – but in my opinion it is better to stay in Blue series birds.

Always avoid the grey factor as it masks the Slate. The Slate mutation is sex-linked.

Fallows

Breeding Fallows is a real challenge, not everyone is able to do this because it takes years of breeding to obtain a very good bird.

If you want to breed Fallows you must understand the differences between the three mutations:

English Fallows

German Fallows

Scottish Fallows

Most common are the English and German Fallows.

English Fallows are supposed to have an iris ring with no white so the eye seems to be red. In fact, there is an iris ring but it is deep pink in color.

German Fallows, on the other hand, have a white iris ring and between the two mutations there is not much difference in body color.

Paring German and English Fallows together is not a good practice because the youngsters are all “black eyed” and split for German and English Fallow. The Fallow mutation is recessive.

Most Fallows are small birds, so when you are breeding this mutation you have to use your better Normal birds – this is why I said earlier that it is always good practice to breed back to a Normal.

I prefer not to use Cinnamon because I found that it did not improve the Fallow mutation.

In my breeding room I have only English Fallows and after 10 years of breeding I do not have the standard bird that you would expect.

In conclusion, I can say that the Fallow is a very attractive budgerigar, but is a bird for the experienced breeder.

Clearbodies

Here we have two types who are common, the Texas Clearbody and the Easley Clearbody.

The Texas Clearbody is sex-linked whilst the Easley Clearbody is dominant.

The Texas Clearbody is the most common variety to be bred in Europe. It has close links to the Ino mutation to which it is dominant.

An Ino cannot be split for Texas Clearbody, a Normal can be split for Texas Clearbody and Ino, but Texas Clearbody can be split for Ino.

In my aviary I have two different lines which can produce Clearbody. The first line is a mating between Clearbody and Ino, the second line is a combination between Clearbody and Normals.

Later on I have put the youngsters from the two lines together to produce a Texas Clearbody with the correct markings.

Texas Clearbody coming from the first line have a better yellow color but the wings are white, those coming from the second line have better wing markings and color on the flights. Putting them together gives me a bird who has a nice body color, good wing markings and a better standard.

I have had the Easley Clearbody in my aviary since 1999 and I am trying to breed a DF Easley Clearbody, so the challenge goes on.

Anthracites

Since 2007 I have introduced the Anthracite mutation in my aviary. You can read more about this in other articles on my website – didiermervilde.bestofbreeds.net.

Aviary

I have two aviaries, so to understand it better I will call them Aviary 1 and Aviary 2.

Aviary 1 is a wooden summerhouse with 20 breeding cages with no special facilities.

Aviary 2 has a wooden construction and isolated walls, tile floors and is just big enough to be managed on one’s own very effectively.

Inside the aviary I build breeding cages and a flight for the surplus birds and young. The breeding cages measure 30 x 30 x 80 cm, the inside flight is 4 by 6 metres.

In recent years I built a second flight which measures 3 by 3 metres.

I use outside boxes for the breeding cages and keep a record of all my birds on the computer so it is easy to see which pedigree and bloodline they have.

As seed I use a mix of 50% canary seed and 50% millets.

As additives I give Abidec (multi-vitamin solution) and Cytacon (vitamin b12 solution) – a product that I buy in the U.K. because in my country it is not available – and for the youngsters I use Biovit soft food. I also give grit and iodine blocs.

I give the additives continuously in the breeding season, and twice a week in the non-breeding season.

I give the soft food once a week in the non–breeding season, and every day in the breeding season.

An Enormous Challenge

Breeding rare budgerigars is certainly an enormous challenge.

After years of work and with a little luck, one day you will achieve success.

Enjoy your success and be aware that breeding budgerigars is a challenge but first of all it is a lovely hobby.

Q1: Please explain your feeding regime – including any extras you may give for the breeding season, and do you stop these extras at the end of the breeding season?

GSB:

Keep a variety of seeds so that the birds can select what they want, but keep the canary seed content high as it contains the highest protein.

Extras are a multivitamin (Abidec here in the UK) and vitamin B12 (Cytacon here in the UK), plus the seed mixture is given a low dose of cod liver oil (vitamins A & D) all year, to ensure that the birds’ metabolism is high and they then breed well, rather than sit there and do nothing.

I also give Hormova and essential minerals.

Routine is year round. Budgerigars object to changes in diet.

Q2: Please explain the importance of giving grit in our birds’ diet

GSB:

Whatever else you may have read about grit not being needed, forget it.

Nature provides an organ in the digestive system called a gizzard. It is a very strong muscular organ with a tough lining. Its purpose is to muscularly move and – provided there are two types of grit being provided (soluble and insoluble) – it will work perfectly to grind down the seed intake so that it is easily digested.

No grit – no proper digestion.

Grit must be replaced weekly – no longer than that.

No grit — no teeth!

Q3: What single product do you consider the best you have used throughout your breeding career? Also do you think it is still a strong contender among the other maybe more modern, products?

GSB:

Undoubtedly Hormova – not Hormoform.

It is sold by Harkers in the UK and used by some European breeders.

It recently changed its base powder from a red appearance to white. Some breeders find the birds reject this and I have passed that back to Harkers and they are looking to change it back again.

I thought it would make no difference and said so – but I was wrong.

Fed in finger drawers, the overall vitamin content is perfect and I first saw it 55 years ago in Joe Collyer’s aviary. Fertility and chicks were there in bucket loads.

Many modern products are made by well meaning manufacturers – but they are in the main, not budgerigar breeders.

]]>http://www.budgerigarworld.com/gsb-q-a-part-1-feeding/feed/3Drinking Water – Chlorinehttp://www.budgerigarworld.com/drinking-water-chlorine/
http://www.budgerigarworld.com/drinking-water-chlorine/#commentsSat, 09 Apr 2011 17:18:48 +0000http://www.budgerigarworld.com/?p=5582Hot on the heels of our article on fluoride in water, we have received a query about chlorinated water from Robert Nawarauckas, a budgerigar breeder in Scotland.

Robert’s query:

After visiting and discussing the birds diet, I was alarmed at the suggestion by my friend that chlorine in the water kills most, if not all, vitamin supplements that we administer in water. This to include Cytacon, Abidec and I imagine others.

This was passed on to him by a pharmacist.

Your views please.

For the correct answer, I wrote to Dr Gloria Havenhand of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, UK. Gloria is known throughout the hobby and is fully qualified to answer. She is married to top budgerigar breeder Don Havenhand.

Here is Gloria’s answer in full:

As we all know, most councils add chlorine to our drinking water – and if the council says it is okay – it is okay is it not?

Mainly, chlorine is added to stop harmful bacteria growing at a rate of knots in our water supply.

Remember, our drinking water is mostly recycled sewage water!

Chlorine is the “chariot of carnage” for bacteria like E.coli – but do remember that if chlorine can affect one organism, it is as likely to affect another, and another, in some way or other.

Remember all of you – chlorine gas was pumped into the faces and lungs of your great grandfathers in the First World War (1914–1918). It killed and maligned thousands on the battlefield by destroying lung and throat membranes within a few short breaths!

Chlorine is a halogen – in the same group as fluorine, bromine and iodine. These are never naturally found in nature! They can be killers above a dose of 1,000 parts in 1 million in humans and less than 100 parts per million in birds and small mammals.

They have highly unpleasant and suffocating fumes, can burn flesh and are certainly toxic. That is why they decimate bacteria!

DDT, the disaster chlorine-based pesticide of the 1960’s, was eventually banned in 1973 in the USA – it was cumulative in muscle and hence the meat and fish we all ate. DDT caused hormonal and central nervous disruption in humans and a multitude of animals sledging down the food chain. Guess what – DDT is back again today and used against the malarial parasite.

It is difficult to sit easy about any chemical – it has the habit of déjà vu!

So, where does this leave us with chlorine and the question of its effect on vitamins?

Take heed that chlorine slays most of the good bacteria in our intestines and probably that in birds too!

Bacteria spearhead the production of vitamins like vitamin B12 and vitamin K within the intestine. This is why we have so many ads on TV for Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli – good bacteria which elbow out the nasty pathogens our gut develops when slaked with chlorine, fluorine and antibiotics of any description!

You all apply and dose ill birds with antibiotics, slaying vitamins and good bacteria at a swipe!

So you choose.

Less is more – I would advise.

This is why so many bird fanciers use bee propolis essence – the natural antibacterial from the beehive – essential to apply to feather problems externally and immune boost internally and which has no detected effect on vitamin and nutritional absorption.

Vitamin absorption and use by date are singularly time based – so a daily supplement is okay – but is just waiting around the intestinal bend to be devastated in its form!